TG Charges Blatant Transgender Discrimination In US Job
By Angela Fox Bridgman
Who would have ever thought that an agency of the United States Federal
Government would engage in blatant discrimination? Certainly, I did not
think so. However, sadly, that is the case. The U.S. Department of
Commerce, Bureau of the Census was my employer, from November 17, 1997 until
February 17, 1998. I worked at their facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
In
January, 1998, several employees filed false and misleading allegations in
reference to my conduct in the workplace. I was charged with, among other
things, conduct which was not in line with common decency or morality,
including the use of obscene or offensive language, sexual harassment, and,
taking reprisal action against an employee in anticipation of, or in
retaliation for filing a grievance or complaint, or other exercise of rights,
to quote the actual complaint I received. More simply put, I was accused of
making inappropriate remarks about my sexuality, or gender, of sexual
harassment, and of stalking a fellow employee. Four employees were quoted in
the formal complaint, and the four employees are a clique that have worked
together at Census for many years.
These particular employees, and others, since the day I stared working
there, referred to me, openly, and amongst themselves as "shim" (thier
hybrid of "she" and "him"), as well as "it" and "that thing". On
several occasions, these employees also made cruel jokes, to and about
me, and also, on more than one occasion, deliberately continued to refer to
me in male gender pronouns, despite my numerous requests that they stop.
There was much hostility directed at me from these, and other employees.
Other employees were very supportive of me, and often comforted me, and made
attempts to correct the others, when they could see that the treatment I was
receiving was upsetting me. My superviors, on the other hand, did nothing,
and were most likely a part of the above mentioned clique. I also took steps
on my own, to try to deal with the situation in an appropriate manner, but,
unfortunately, nothing was done about the numerous requests and suggestions I
made to allieviate the problems. Initially, I requested, through the
Employee Assistance Program, and my immediate supervisors, that some sort of
sensitivity training be conducted in my unit, to sensitize my co-workers to
the difficulties I was facing as a direct result of their treatment of me.
This request was never acted upon, despite the fact that I requested it
often, in fact, almost every week. I also requested to be transferred out of
the unit I was working in, as it was a hostile work environment. Again, my
requests fell on deaf ears. I also made numerous requests of my immediate
supervisors to keep certain people away from me, and to keep me away from
certain people, by not assigning me to work in the same area in which they
were working. This was a request which could have been easily accomodated,
yet, once again, my repeated requests for intervention were ignored.
Needless to say, no one in management ever went out of thier way to tell me
that we had a union at the Census Bureau, and that they could possibly be of
some help.
I responded, truthfully, to the allegations, yet my defense was
completely and totally ignored by my immediate supervisors. The signed
statements of twelve of my fellow employees were also ignored, in the
course of which I am reluctant to call an investigation. Two days after
my response was filed to these allegations, the recommendation came back that
I be removed from my position at the Census Bureau. There is no way that a
thorough, complete, impartial, and unbiased investigation could possibly have
been conducted in two days (I mean, we ARE talking Government here....they
can't even blow their noses in two days, let alone, conduct a thorough
investigation.) Certainly, the "investigation" was not conducted in an
impartial, unbiased fashion, as required by law, nor was a thorough
investigation conducted. I know for a fact that my response to the
allegations was not even read by my immediate supervisors, becuase I had
turned three pages of my response upside down, and when my response was given
back to me, the same three pages were still upside down! Furthermore, this
recommendation taints any possibility of any unbiased investigation taking
place by the Personnel unit at the local level.
The Jeffersonville Census Bureau facility was a hostile work
environment, and it is impossible, at this time, for an unbiased
investigation to be conducted on that level, because my fellow employees are
unable to speak the truth freely, without the fear of reprisals from
supervisors, and fellow employees. This has been affirmed by my union
representative, and by a number of fellow employees. Also, the lack of
impartial and unbiased investigation into these false allegations which have
been made against me has adversely affected my physical and mental health.
For these reasons, I have been compelled to resign my position with the
Census Bureau. This is a matter which will have to be investigated from
somewhere other than the local level, and that is not possible, as long as
you are a Federal employee. The rules require you to go through your local
level EEO office, as opposed to taking it to the unbiased outside. There seem
to be more options outside this particular workplace, and I am contemplating
and considering a number of legal options at this time aimed at obtaining
redress for what was done to me, as well as protecting the other
transgendered people who work for Census.
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